The new home of most certainly not

I lived through Black Friday–although I am pretty sure I folded more clothes during the 12 hours I worked between Thursday and Friday than I have in my entire life. For some reason, the men’s department falls victim to neglect and extra messy shelves and racks. I spent a considerable amount of time returning it to some semblance of order and making it look more like a store display rather than the floor of a teen boy’s closet.

I also realized something while I worked–men’s clothes are all the same. How can this be?

I have been an online shopper since before online shopping was convenient and mainstream. I shy away from crowds and those times of year when shopping is just too peopley. So, how I find myself working in the belly of the beast by choice this holiday season is beyond me.

I took the plunge. I’m a seasonal sales associate at an extremely popular department store and I will be working on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

I love to use coupon codes, search for best deals, and never pay full price. Technology has helped in that so much! Today, I stumbled on something that looks kind of new (maybe I’m late to the party?!) and I wanted to share it with you.

The service called “Honey” is a browser extension and I became interested when I saw how it will help me find the lowest price on Amazon taking into consideration all parts of a price and also recognizes my Prime membership. I’ve used plenty of coupon code finding sites, but never one that works in my browser with Amazon. So, that’s new to me!

For the Amazon part alone, I was sold enough to try it. It not only identifies the best deal on the item I’m interested it, but will also apply any and all site-wide coupons/deals with the easy click of a button.

If you want to check it out, you’re welcome to use my referral link–then refer your friends with your own link and make $5!

When the calendar moves into November, you start to think about fall food. When the Green Bean Bin brings you lots of yummy fruit, you think about the awesome fruit crisps, cobblers and tarts you could make. This week, I stumbled upon a recipe that was as easy as the result was impressive. The only problem? The dessert did not last.

I received an email last week that still has me super stoked. I have been a big fan of Melissa Joulwan since stumbling upon her blog when I first heard of Paleo. Her mayo recipe rocked my universe and the Sunshine Sauce still ranks as one of the best things I ever took to a lunch with friends.

I own both her Well Fed and Well Fed 2 cookbooks and this email not only shared a recipe for Fried Chicken Meatballs, but also dropped the knowledge that the recipe is one of 128 in her new cookbook coming soon. Well Fed Weeknights features Paleo meals in 45-minutes or less. THAT is super exciting because everyone in this house loves to eat and hates to wait. And, frankly, I need more Paleo options at my fingertips and I am looking for something to reignite my kitchen interest.

I love that the email contained 70 pages of the new cookbook and 16 recipes. Who doesn’t love a sneak peek?! If you are more of a live action person, there is a sneak peek video as well. Can’t wait to have this in my hot little hands!

I admit it. I am a planner addict. Since I was in elementary school, I have used some form of paper planner to try and keep track of everything I have happening at any given time.

I back-up my engagements on my Google calendar, but there is nothing like having a physical representation of my plans, my to-do lists, birthdays, tasks, etc. This is my second time using a particular brand of planner and I could not be more pleased with mine for 2017. It arrived this weekend and I would love to introduce you to my planner after the jump!

In July, I attended a week-long conference in Baltimore. One of my dearest friends had recently moved to DC and I had not seen her in years. I realized how close I would be to her and decided if she could meet me in the District that I would make it happen. I booked a great hotel at a great price. We packed a ton of fun and great food into our weekend. Wanna see? It’s on the other side of the jump!

This year marks an important milestone year for my family. My oldest is a senior in high school and my youngest is in 8th grade. Each daughter finishes their respective level of schooling this year and then moves into their next major level of education. My youngest astutely pointed out [as I was gasping for breath trying to recover from this realization] that when my oldest is graduating from college, she will be graduating from high school so we can do this all over again in four years. She certainly does love seeing her mother in shock!

My youngest and I make no secret that we are big fans of Michigan football. After spending a long weekend in Holland, Michigan with some of my workout friends, my youngest is an even bigger fan of the state. I enjoyed the weekend too–it reminded me of traveling to Michigan as a kid. Back then it was fishing all the time…I mostly read books…but if we could have gone to the beach?! I’d have been in heaven! Want to see our photo album from our trip? Click through! [Hold your cursor over the pics to read the captions.]

When we brought Lily the Lab home last fall, I thought it would be fun to create a photo album on Facebook and do weekly photos of her like the new moms on my friends list did monthly with their infants.

When my girls were small, we didn’t have all the Pinterest-inspired ideas to try. Most of their first year is documented in a scrapbook album. While I did a pretty decent job, I didn’t keep up with the task as much as I would have liked.